


The Last Kiss

by Ninjantome



Series: Kilguin Week 2k17 [5]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst and Feels, Heart pirates are sorcerers, Kid pirates are witchers, Love and Loss, M/M, Magic, Monster Hunters, The Witcher Lore, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-04-17 13:06:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14189586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ninjantome/pseuds/Ninjantome
Summary: An army is at the gates of Dressrosa, aiming to reduce Law and his brotherhood of heretic sorcerers to ashes. Their only hope resides in their long time friends, in the person of Kid and his group of monster slayers. But if they decide to fight they will face a certain death. And neither Penguin nor Killer is ready to see the man they love die.





	The Last Kiss

**Author's Note:**

> This Fantasy AU was in my head for too long now and I finally wrote it thanks to the Kilguin Chat motivational people!  
> It is based on the book series (and video game) The Witcher (originally written by Andrzej Sapkowski). If you like fantasy genre I highly recommand this book series (it might be a bit hard with the amont of characters but the story and writing really worth it). I hope you'll enjoy this new one shot and if you do please tell me in the comments ;)

In the Kingdom of Dressrosa high towers were standing upon the land. You couldn’t mistake these constructions for the royal castle. The slender building that was piercing the sky with its pointed roofs had nothing to do with royalty. Its stones had the age of the world and had darkened since the day the elves had turned these rocks into an architectural marvel. Such was the power of the ancient races that the passage of men decayed with coal and moss. There was nothing left of the ancient magic but an unsettling presence the old towers were giving off.

But everybody could tell that no human hand would have been able to made this kind of structure. The knowledge of those thin stone arcs and large windows had been held by the last members of the elven race and all of them would past away with their secrets and their architectural achievements. All the human conquerors could do was admiring or trying to understand the traces that the past carried to them through the ages.

To the people of Dressrosa this proof of an ancient glorious era had become part of the landscape of the countryside. By getting closer you could distinguish a large observatory, the weird smoke escaping from chimneys and the large balconies miraculously hanging high above the ground without apparent supports. The strange aura surrounding the building was well known but no one would have suspect the elves to be behind it. The only magic that was residing between the walls nowadays was from the presence of the famous Lodge of the sorcerers.

 

On one intricately carved balcony, a man was standing with his eyes lost on the blazing horizon. Usually the sunset was a marvelous show from this height. The main tower was overlooking the whole country and was allowing the viewer to enjoy the beautiful shades of orange and red of the light for a magic instant. This night, however, it wasn’t the sun that was setting the horizon of fire, but the progress of an enemy army.

With his hands set flat on the guardrail, the man stood straight. His steel grey eyes were staring at the city downward, at its colored roofs and the catching fires. The border was burning slowly, shrinking on itself and leaving a black and cindery trace on the ground, like the corner of a paper over the flame of a candle. He could feel the earth cry from the stomps of armored feet and the war horses. The animals had fled, taking shelter away from the wrath of men. Tonight there would only be the screams of humans filling the air.

A light breeze was making Trafalgar Law’s long embroidered robes fluttering against his ankles and ruffling his short dark hair. The sorcerer seemed hypnotized by the scene happening in the distance, almost indifferent. Nothing was showing on his traits, neither in his stance. He could have just looked at the sun setting with his expressionless face. Nonetheless, the rigidity of his body and the closeness of his features were sealing the utter rage boiling inside him stronger than the fires of war.

How did he let that happen?

His grey eyes moved to a point moving in the sky. A small and lonely silhouette in the air was bringing a burning smell with it. It grew from a pinhead to a defined black and white form. The magpie was flying at full speed, flying away as fast as it could but the war was right behind it. And there was nothing it could do to escape the hotness growing stronger and nearer to its shiny feathering.

The magpie hardly landed on the balcony, its fly had more of a fall when it shook its wings aimlessly. It looked as lost and desperate as the citizens must be down there. Law turned toward the bird with a neutral expression, despite that he craved to know what it had witnessed in the city. The magpie flapped his wings frantically, unstable on his thin bird legs. Then as the sorcerer got closer the animal swelled up, his feathers moved aside his growing form, until a human stood where there was a bird just a blink of an eye ago.

A young sorcerer fell on his knees down the ancient elven stones. A man sobbing whose body was shaking uncontrollably, but not from the difficult spell of shape shifting. Law was at his side immediately and his unwavering hand settled on his disciple’s shoulder.

“Breathe Penguin,” Law said without a tremor in his voice or sign that he was caring. Although his hand remained gripped on Penguin’s shoulder.

“I–it–it’s… This–,” the young sorcerer panted his face hidden by the pointed hat he was always wearing, “This is worse than… what– what we saw in the mirror.”

Trafalgar shushed him until the young sorcerer had took his breath back. However, when he stood up his features were still in pain. His face was stained with soot and his dark clothes smelled of smoke and the clinging stench of the city’s streets. But nor his high collared doublet neither his dark leathered boots were damaged. He hadn’t been in the battle but what he saw deeply shook him.

“How fast are they progressing?” Law asked calmly.

“Too fast…” Penguin answered with horror filling his eyes. Law would have liked to spare them both from this conversation but with the state his disciple was in, he couldn’t get into his head without getting deeply unsettled by the feelings that were overwhelming him at the moment.

“What about the army of Dressrosa? Did they reach the gates of the city?”

“No,” Penguin gulped hardly. His throat was burning from all the smoking clouds he went through.

“Then they will have to catch up quicker than we planned. Or the city will suffer badly.”

Law’s steel irises came back to the shining line of the horizon. He asked again, before Penguin managed to continue: “Did you see how many they were?”

“No,” Penguin trembled at the fresh memories replaying painfully in his head, “I escape before they got me,” the young sorcerer explained breathing better now he was in his home, the security of the Lodge’s towers somehow always soothing his nerves. This time though it wasn’t enough.

He tried to draw some peace from the ambient magic coming from the heart of the place, deep into the telluric lines. It usually helped to calm his mind. But he couldn’t get those terrible images out of his head. The fire, the screams, the bodies… so many bodies… No, no, no, no! He had to be calm or he won’t be able to have control over his powers! It was the first rule every sorcerer ever learnt and the only one they needed to never forget.

Seeing his turmoil, Law reprimanded him. Penguin dusted his short black doublet and set his pointed hat straight on his short hair. He tried to cool down, imitating his master.

“Tell me what you saw,” Trafalgar Law demanded.

“The Redanian’s army is upon us. Just like we saw it earlier, they reached Dressrosa a month sooner than what we planned.”

The master of the Lodge exhaled. This invasion was against all the accords and negotiations they spent months and months arranging between the kings and dukes and other noble lineages. This atrocity was fleshing out the failure of their power. The failure of magic to wisely advise the men and avoid the war. It’s been almost a year that the Redania had set its army on the path of war, almost eleven months that the sorcerers from the Lodge had seen villages and towns fell one after the other. But it had never been their role to directly take part in military conflicts.

“They should have never come so far in the North,” Law frowned slightly, “Had Donquixote come down with his men to face them already?”

Penguin stared at him with his wide eyes glistening terribly, “No, Law…”

“I need to know if he made a move Penguin. Speak.”

“…they’re not coming.”

The young sorcerer’s dead voice let place to a mournful silence and for once in a lifetime an air of surprise briefly passed on Trafalgar’s face. The master of the Lodge always kept his emotions under control. He wasn’t the one being controlled by his emotions. That was the reason why he was the most powerful sorcerer of the Lodge.

“How is this possible?” He asked with a small voice, “What is happening Penguin?”

Penguin looked over the city of Dressrosa where the fire was progressing. But it wasn’t the houses that were burning.

Now, away from the infernal hotness of the streets, Penguin’s clothes felt cold on his skin. Surrounding him tightly like a deadly grip. And if he was diving down what he saw he could feel it. The Death standing in the corner of his eye, waiting for him to turn back in order to take him.

“Redania didn’t make it up to there, solely on its own. They’re led by the knights of the Flaming Rose.”

The Flaming Rose… a fanatic religious order that swore to protect the people from monsters and other evils, and to promote the belief in the Eternal Fire. Nobody took that knights’ order very seriously. The rose burning in the flames was simply another heraldry for the bored nobles to gather under and go wage war. It had never been a threat to anyone, however, times of great despair leaded the cult of the Eternal Fire to gain more and more worshippers.

The order swore to pacify every being from devilish nature and became known from the whole North for their pyres and massacres. For the hate of magic and their massive killing of anyone who had been practicing it.

“I thought their order disbanded,” Law said.

“They found a new protector in the person of the Redanian’s king. It’s the Eternal Flame that’s opened the gates and are marching on Dressrosa at the moment we’re speaking. They’re going into the houses and raking the streets, destroying every pagan sign they can find. Every circle and every shop! Every– each witch, mages and druids of the ancient gods, even the apothecaries and fortune-tellers! They– they’ve been dragged to… the market places and the fountains and–”

Penguin’s voice caught in his throat as if he was about to throw up. Law didn’t need to dig further to know what was happening. At a very young age, Law had witnessed the rises of the witch hunts. His child’s eyes had seen the bodies dismembered and skinned, his little nose smelt the sickening odor of the burning flesh, his small hands had dug his way out from the rotten corpses of his folk. The sorcerers of the Lodge already lost many counterparts this way. Every person considered a heretic by the Eternal Flame was given the absolution by the fire. But never Law would have expected them to reach Dressrosa. Not under the rule of Donquixote.

“And the forces of Dressrosa?”

“Nobody came,” Penguin told helplessly and answered Law’s underlying questions before he asked them, “There has been no sign from the palace, no move showing that they’ve been attacked or getting ready to fight back.”

Penguin didn’t understand. How? How did they suddenly find themselves trapped and without allies? How did they not see it? This situation was beyond all of Law’s predictions. And here they were. Facing the blatant evidence of the failure of the negotiations. War was coming to them.

“What should we do Law?” Penguin started to panic despite his best efforts. “They are too many, even for the eight of us.”

His master didn’t make a move, his eyes glued to the fire like a moth on a flame. And it lied heavily on Penguin’s mind. After all he just saw, he couldn’t remain calm. Yet he had to. He was making the air shaking and the wide open door of the observatory, further to the fragile instruments inside, were starting to shriek and to beg for the flow of raw magic to stop coming through them. Penguin breathed before he began hurting them or himself. But no breathing would make his anxiety go away. And Law had remained calm and quiet although Penguin desperately needed him to say something. To say that they had a plan. Anything!

“They’re here for us… those fanatics they– if they reach our castle–”

Penguin stopped in midair because his head had suddenly felt really light, as if his pointed hat wasn’t weighing on his head anymore. At first he thought it was Law’s act but, almost immediately, Penguin recognized the familiar sensation that went through him. It left the young sorcerer both in an extreme vulnerability and surrounded by a warm embrace. It was the sensation of a soul touching his. And Penguin whispered with relief, “Killer!”

Just at this instant Law felt it too. Several warriors’ spirits were coming close, approaching the gates of the sorcerers’ castle.

* * *

 

When Law and Penguin ran down from the observatory, the other sorcerers were losing their heads. They were worried silhouettes walking back and forth in the great hall of the castle. The high ceiling was darkened by the twilight and the declining sun casted distorted patches of light on the tiled floor. High bookcases were lined on the ancient walls. At the center of the room was a large magic circle directly installed over a crossing of telluric lines. It was the most powerful place in the castle and the one they would always go to in times of trouble. The sorcerers long black robes were flowing anxiously behind them as they were arguing.

But as soon as they recognized Law, their argument ceased and Shachi shouted, “There is a troop that forced the entr–”

“I know,” Law cut short from his sharp voice.

In few big steps he came to the center of the circle and raised his left hand. Under his will, the huge double doors of the great hall opened. Magic flowed through him with ease. Not even shaking the low balloon sleeves of his black robe embroidered with gold threads. As he did so, their unexpected visitors walked in, familiar with the maze of halls leading to the sorcerers’ favorite room. They had had no trouble entering the Lodge’s castle since they lived there many years in the sorcerers’ company.

All the sorcerers calmed down at their sight. They hadn’t changed the slightest, the same stoic expressions, the same yellow eyes split like those of cats, the same pair of swords hanging on their back. One of silver and one of steel. Like every monster slayer should have. The biggest difference now was that they traded their novice outfits for heavy leathered armors and chain mails.

The war had separated them those last months, and for the first time the six warriors were reuniting. In the castle where their training had begun.

Heat, Wire, Drake, Bonney, Kid and Killer. Witchers of the school of the dragon.

 

The double doors closed with a deep and low sound of wood panels hitting each other. It brought some quietness in the room where long looks were exchanged. It’s been so long they hadn’t seen one another. It seemed a lifetime ago when, the sorcerers used to teach magic to the witchers. Those peaceful and bonding moments now belonged to another time. A more innocent and calmer one. Far from the flames and religious wrath that were threatening the Lodge now. The sun had set completely but things weren’t looking as dark as it should have.

The witcher’s arrival was all the sorcerers could ask for. Allies. When the group of witchers reached the edge of the magic circle, Clione took off his sorcerer’s hat with visible relief. Ikkaku waved at Bonney who winked back. Grateful murmurs passed from a sorcerer to another. And Law stepped forward to meet Kid at a respectful distance that nobody dared to cross.

Even years of training together hadn’t lessened the tension going on between the two leaders. But it seemed like there would always be a yawning chasm separating the great sorcerer with the steel eyes and the monster slayer with the flaming red hair. They weighed each other up, Kid’s dirty leather armor offering an odd contrast to Law’s refine robe, until quick steps interrupted their tensed greeting.

Penguin forced his way through his brotherhood of sorcerers, crossing the few feet separating the two assemblies, while Killer rushed to meet him too and wrapped his arms tightly around Penguin. His pointed hat fell down in the ardor of their embrace. The young sorcerer passed his arms around Killer’s neck and buried his head in the golden mane cascading down to his hips. The witcher was smelling of ashes and sweat, just like his lover. It made Penguin trembled at the memory of the rampage going on in the city. Both gripped each other eagerly, starving to touch the other and make sure he was there. Alive and well. Penguin cupped Killer’s scarred face without a word. All they had to say was passing through their mental bond.

_It’s been–_

_–so long!_

_Are you alright?_

_Are you hurt?_

_What happened?_

_Tell me everything._

_I missed you so much!_

_I couldn’t stop–_

_–thinking about you–_

_–every day I–_

_–was feeling so lost–_

_–I was afraid…_

_I had nightmares–_

_–you were so far…_

_…And now I’m–_

_–here._

Law and the other sorcerers could feel it without managing to catch what they were saying. It was unusual for a sorcerer to communicate that way with another person than a master of the Art. But Killer and Penguin had never been what you could called ordinary.

“Where did you come from?” The great sorcerer finally asked.

Penguin turned toward Kid without getting off Killer’s arms. He wanted to know too. Why the witchers of the school of the dragon had reunited today. Here of all places.

“We were caught between the Redanian army and Donquixote’s soldiers,” The red haired witcher explained with a deep frown, “We thought Dressrosa would be a safe place to escape the first but we were wrong–”

Law didn’t let him finish, “Did you talk to the king?” He urged.

“Yes–”

“Is he outside?” Law guessed and what he read on the witchers’ faces sufficed as a good enough answer. The sorcerer immediately headed toward the double doors but Kid’s voice stopped him.

“We met with Donquixote! He asked us to bring you outside–”

“Of course he did,” Law retorted, “We need to react quickly before the whole city suffer the atrocities committed by these fanatics.”

None of the monster slayers dared to grab the sorcerer on his way, knowing that it was not in their power to do so. But their stares and rigid stances were telling the severity of the situation.

“Trafalgar wait!” The leader of the witchers shouted.

Law turned back in order to spare him a single look, in the memory of the time they spent at each other’s sides, and six pairs of yellow eyes pinned him where he stood.

“Donquixote came here with a whole battalion,” Drake explained.

“But there’s still no soldier protecting the city,” Bonney added.

“He came to us specifically to retrieve you all,” Wire finished, forcing everyone to look up his tall frame. His armor was pierced at some places and covered with scratches. In fact, all the monster slayers weren’t in great condition.

“We have no time to spare in guesses. Speak clearly,” Law demanded.

Kid scowled darkly at the obstinate sorcerer, the others moved instinctively out of his way when he got closer to Law.

“Do you know what the king asked us just ten minutes ago?”

“This is not what I asked for–”

“Answer me Law!” Kid shouted so loudly the red haired witcher’s voice thundered in the great hall. Everybody stilled at his burst of rage, although Law remained unfazed. Until finally the sorcerer yielded.

“No, I don’t.”

“He asked what was a witcher’s purpose,” The red haired told. His hand came to the medallion they were all wearing around their neck figuring a dragon’s head, “What do mutants like us, tortured, trained from childhood to fight; Stronger and faster than other humans, using magic… but part of no army, wielding no colors. What were we made for?”

Kid was still seeing the wide grin of Dressrosa’s king, looking down on him and his brothers in arms from his horse, with a sumptuous pink cape draping his back. He had stood proudly in front of his soldiers, waiting in line for his command like perfect puppets.

“We kill monsters.” Kid had answered. And in the present he looked at the whole Lodge of sorcerers, piercing each one of them with his yellow eyes. “And that’s exactly why he sent us here today.”

A terrified revelation appeared on the sorcerers’ faces. All eight of them suddenly realizing that the reason behind the witchers’ presence had all been a trap. And the king that was supposed to protect them was only looking forward to see them burn on a pyre. And he sent their friends to lead them to it.

“I don’t believe it,” Law said to himself as he saw years of wise counseling turning against his whole brotherhood.

“For fuck sake Law!” Kid enraged, “If you spent all this time playing Donquixote’s game, you should have known he’d have come to this! You were never supposed to win! He allied with the knights of the Eternal Flame, right under your nose! But it was too fun for you to outsmart the man wasn’t it?!”

Law gritted his teeth but he didn’t allow himself to glared back at the witcher.

“You were just another puppet to him! He just made you believe you had the control!” Kid continued, letting out his old rancor against Law’s political games. But it wasn’t simply for the satisfaction to rub this failure in Law’s face. Deep down, Kid foolishly hoped that he would make the sorcerer react. That would finally express something else than composure, that he was going to let go and fight back!

Killer saw all that and decided to stop Kid before they get ahead of themselves. Time was still running out.

“They sent us to you because they knew you would let us in without question. You are predictable,” Killer told without spite.

“So let’s go for surprising them!” Kid cut short, “Come down with us!” He exhorted the frozen sorcerers while a maniacal grin started growing on his face, “Let’s go and show them what you’re made of!”

But the only things Kid saw in the sorcerers’ eyes were fear and concern. Bepo had lowered is head and Bart kept his arms crossed. Shachi shared a glance with Penguin and their exchange spoked volumes. The Lodge of the sorcerers was a powerful brotherhood. It existed before any of them were born but its role had never been to fight against someone. No matter what conflict would unsettled the realms of men, they should never take sides. The Lodge existed for one and only greater purpose: for the benefit of magic. That was why the cult of the Eternal Flame was longing to see them burn. If the Lodge disappeared it would be the final step toward the extinction of magic users. One by one, witches and wizard would be hunted down and executed. If such a powerful brotherhood ceased to exist who would be able stand for magic?

“We can face a battalion,” Law settled, “But never a whole army. We are not prepared for such battle.”

“Rely on us then!” Kid insisted, “If we work together we can outmatch them!”

Killer’s commander was eager to fight, in fact he had always been, and Killer had never missed a chance to fight at his side. But a weight in his arms kept Killer grounded. The warmth of his lover’s trembling body helped him face the hard truth. If they were going together facing the army of the Flaming Rose, they had to be ready to put their lives in the line. Killer looked down at Penguin, his brave and joyful sweetheart… and he knew he wasn’t ready to sacrifice him.

“Law,” Killer interrupted to Kid’s surprise, “Before you make any decision, take that in count.”

The blond witcher threw a heavy piece of metal at the great sorcerer’s feet. The pair of handcuffs opened in an awful screeching and Law looked at it as if it was poisonous. Around him the other sorcerers had jumped out of the handcuffs’ way. The only material on earth capable of depriving a magic user from their powers.

“…Sea stone. Where did you get that?”

“A gift from Donquixote,” Killer growled, “And if he has enough money to spare in that kind of toys, I bet this isn’t the only one he has.”

“The Flaming Rose have ones too, and sea stone bombs,” Penguin added gripping unconsciously Killer’s shirt, “That’s what set fire to most of the city, the seastone prevented the mages in town to extinguish it.”

Kid glared at them, “All the more reason to hit them right now! We mustn’t lose time in arguing! That’s all you did those last months and look where it got you!”

Law didn’t let any reaction show up on his features. He was thinking, so fast the depths of his mind felt like a maelstrom to the other sorcerers.

“One thing is certain,” Heat intervened, “We’re running out of time. You must decide what you’re going to do Law. Now.”

Law looked at his disciples. Just like the witchers would follow Kid into the depths of hell, the Lodge would remain united whatever its leader decided. But it shouldn’t be Law’s decision whether to take them on the path of war.

Bepo was the first to answer Law’s silent call, “I’ll follow you anywhere!”

“Yes! Me too!” Clione and Usi immediately added, strengthening their saying by making a step toward Law. It made the magic circle on which they stood look more and more like a battle ground. But where did the sorcerers stand?

Law’s grey eyes turned to the group formed by Bart, Ikkaku and Shachi. They had remained quiet with deeply concerned features. The usually silent Bart, with his big arms tensing the fabric of his black sleeves, spoked first.

“When I entered the Lodge, I wished to be free. It was a place I’d always dreamed of, because here I would learn the way to control my powers and the unknown paths of magic. This is why the Lodge was formed in the first place. Not to satisfy the tantrum of men, but to preserve knowledge. I shall fight for this.”

“And I shall too,” Ikkaku topped, throwing her wild curly hair out of her serious face, “But what if we don’t make it? If we die tonight, everything we knew and gathered through the years will perish with us. I don’t wish to wait for the knights to get us themselves. But we are not prepared to survive this battle.”

“Ikkaku is right,” Shachi continued, “Everything we worked for is here. Not only in us, but between these walls. This castle is the home of the biggest library on this side of the continent. Our experiences, our researches, everything is there… Even if we come out of this battle alive, if this castle burns down then magic would lose. I won’t stand to see all that destroyed in the name of a god.”

The sorcerers opened their eyes wide, realizing how precious the books surrounding them were precious, and that Shachi was right. It wasn’t just about them but everything they created over the years.

“It means–” Clione began, clutching his hat, “Even if we leave they will destroy this place…”

“Everything we wrote.”

“The old archives.”

“The studies on the Conjunction of the Spheres–”

“You got no time for that,” Bonney spoke harsh but true words. Her long pink braided hair shook left and right when she moved in the sorcerers’ direction. “You have t–”

 

A violent detonation stopped her from finishing. The noise had been loud enough for all of them to fear the worst.

“They’re here,” Kid told aloud what everyone was thinking. He drew his iron claymore out of his back and faced Law. “You have to make a choice now Trafalgar! Will you fight with us?”

Sharper than Kid’s sword Law’s eyes scanned his disciples’ minds. All were trying their best to conceal how afraid they were. Did their lives really mattered more than all the knowledge they swore to protect? More than everything Law hated finding himself out of options. But tonight fate had decided otherwise. And now they had no time left!

Then Law caught a voice in his head, more assured then the sorcerers’ ones. A rough warrior voice that was handling the mental connection with difficulty because of his lack of control over his emotions.

 _Don’t be stupid Law!_ Killer scolded him. _Most of you will die if you get out! And the others will be tortured and executed for the example! You must flee while you still got the time!_

Law sensed Penguin’s mind next to Killer’s and the young sorcerer agreed. He wanted them to be safe before anything. They would be no good dead or captured.

The great sorcerer shook his head imperceptibly, those two really needed to be careful. Their care for each other was source of an incredible power and allowed them to move mountains. But love was a dangerous emotion. It could bring you the most wonderful joy as well as the hardest suffering a being could experience. From Law’s point of view, it was a weakness. And the easiest way to fool yourself and commit mistakes. He truly hoped Penguin and Killer wouldn’t regret it. Albeit he was certain this time would come.

Another explosion was heard and a faint quake shook the castle’s stones when Law finally said to the sorcerers with the greatest calm, “We are not ready to fight an army right now. We will teleport to the Far North and gathered allies among mages of the mountains. But the survival of the Lodge is the key to the preservation of magic.”

“Coward,” Kid spat with venom. “We came all the way to warn you!”

“And we are very grateful,” Law cut short with visible indifference.

“We could have overthrown them! Together!”

“Maybe, but I do not wish to find if we could die that way as well.” With that the sorcerer turned around without a look back. Leaving the red haired witcher brooding over his resentment. He couldn’t help but wonder how odd fate could be: his body was clad his heavy leather, chain mail and many pieces of armor protecting him from the claws and the teeth of lethal monsters. Yet between him and Law, Kid surely wasn’t the one wearing the thickest armor.

 

“What about the books?” Penguin asked.

“We are going to need a portal wide enough so we can transport the whole room with us,” Law explained to his brotherhood, “But it will require every one of you to compose yourself. You must be in absolute control or the portal would not be big enough for all of us.”

The great sorcerer’s voice had the funeral echo of a knell and every one of his disciples took the measure of what they were about to do. A malfunctioning portal could destroy everything on its path, and if one of them didn’t focus enough… well none of the sorcerers wanted to think about what could happen then.

“Gather around the circle and prepare yourself to cast the spell,” Law ordered. He sent Bepo fetching crystals to help channel the magic flows, and placed the sorcerers at equal distance on the circle with mastery.

Penguin felt Killer’s arms loosen around him, and the young sorcerer turned back to the witcher before he had to join the spell casting. He cupped Killer’s face, sensing the worry that was eating the blond up. Penguin pulled him close to rest his forehead on Killer’s.

 _Everything is going to be alright, we’ll be safe soon…_ Penguin assured.

Penguin tried to soothe his mind at his contact, Killer always calmed him but Penguin felt his lover’s mind slipping away from his.

“What is it?” Penguin voiced his worry.

“You should go Pen, they aren’t much time left.”

Penguin tried to see Killer’s eyes behind his hair but the witcher caught his hands. He gripped them hard as if he wanted Penguin’s handprints to mark his gloves. When the sorcerer slowly pulled his hands off Killer’s face, they were wet.

 _Stay safe Pen_ , Killer thought for his lover.

“Killer! Come on! They’re trying to force the gates!”

“Let them try,” Law’s voice echoed, doubled with the tremor of the magic flowing through him. He placed his hand down on the tiles and pronounced a spell in ancient elvish. The walls seemed to shake their dust out and loud thuds were heard at a distance followed by multiple explosions far away. The great sorcerer had sealed the castle for the outsiders trying to force the building with impunity.

“Bloody hell Trafalgar!” Kid exploded his grip tightening on his sword, “Let us out!”

And suddenly Penguin understood what he had refused to see earlier. The witchers weren’t going to flee with them. Since the beginning they intended to fight their way out of the castle. Diving head first in the arms of the enemy.

“Eustass, if I’m coward then you’re a fool,” Law said from the center of the circle while magic was slowly gathering in the sorcerers’ hands as they focus on the portal.

The leaders’ eyes crossed and their exchange was brief and crystal clear. They had chosen their sides long ago and their paths would be forever apart. The double doors behind the witchers reopened and Law’s voice was only filled with fatality When he sentenced:

“So be it.”

The monster slayers began to step back and turn around, leaving the Lodge to its escape. Killer freed himself from Penguin’s arms. Physically entangling himself from his lover’s grip. But the young sorcerer refused to let got, he held on the leather on Killer’s arm tight.

“You could flee with us!” He yelled to the witchers his voice caught by emotion. Although Penguin knew the moment he said it that it wouldn’t change anything.

Kid turned around with a snort, “And then what?” He asked disdainfully. “We hide in the mountains with you? Trembling that the Eternal Flame will come get us? Because they will come you can be sure of that.” The red haired witcher scowled at Penguin and he made a few steps toward him threateningly.

“What do you think that’s going to happen once they’ll be out of sorcerers to burn? They will remember us, the monster slayers that used magic to keep the humans safe. We’ll be hunted, like animals! And I will not let that happen! Not tomorrow or today! I’ll face them and do what I was made for! Killing monsters!”

Penguin had nothing to retort to that. Kid was right, the fire of the fanatics would spread always farther if no one was stopping them… But what could six witchers do against an army?

Penguin’s eyes came back to Killer as he managed to voice “…you’re going to die.”

“We all die,” Kid stated, “Shall it be today then I’ll have a sword in my hand, not an arrow in my back.”

Penguin felt himself collapsed while the magic flows began to illuminate the circle and draw intricate symbols on the tiled floor. The portal started to take shape but the flows feeding it were rough and flickered lightly despite the combine effort of the sorcerers.

“Penguin!” Shachi yelled, “Hold it together! We need you!”

Penguin was trying. So hard. But his heart was teared out of his chest with more violence than the ravages of war that he saw earlier.

 _Penguin_ , Killer called mentally, _look at me_.

The young sorcerer pulled him closer, how could let him go to a certain death? How could he?

_I–I never wished to leave like this._

_Don’t leave… Please don’t leave! You’re not forced to go with them! Please…_

_I have to. They are my brothers and sister; I can’t abandon them or I would worth nothing more than the monsters we kill._

_But you would live!_

_A shameful life, carrying regrets during all the years I shall spend on my feet while they lay._

_I would take you anyway, please… Killer I beg you_. _Stay._

 _I’ll be with you the whole time_ , Killer insisted, _in your head_.

 _I can’t– I can’t feel you fighting and die in my thoughts, I can’t handle that. I’ll go insane._ Penguin never wanted so hard being selfish. He wished he could force Killer to stay against his will. Should Killer hate him for it, Penguin couldn’t bear to lose him.

_Don’t go… When we’ll pass the portal I won’t hear you. Don’t leave me in the silence._

Killer held Penguin hands tightly and took off his medallion with the dragon’s head.

_No– no I don’t want it!_

_Keep it–_

_You need it! You can’t give that to me!_

_Penguin please!_ Killer put the medallion in his lover’s hand and forced it close over the jewel. _You can feel me through it! Alright? I’ll always be there!_

Penguin was shaking his head stubbornly. Hot tears flowing down his cheeks.

_I don’t want this to be the only thing I’ve left of you!_

“Penguin!” Law shouted this time, “You’re weakening the portal! Let him go!”

On the ground the runes of the portal were slowly spreading under the power of the seven sorcerers. Their jaws were set in concentration as they endure the pressure of the magic needed to cast such a huge spell. The more it grew the calmer the sorcerers needed to be. At this level of power, the slightest shake of focus would make the amount of energy that they were manipulating rampage everything. So while opening the portal they started to fight against Penguin’s devastation.

 _You have to stay strong Pen, they need you_ , Killer insisted, _I–_

“Killer!” Drake called after the witcher. Him and Wire were left waiting for the blond while Kid took the lead of the other and exited the room.

“One moment!” Killer yelled back.

He gulped hardly. As far as his memories went he had suffered, whether from the training or the experimentations that were done to him. He had felt every bones of his body being broken at least once, he had endured more pain than a man would know in his whole life. But he would gladly relive all that rather than having to say goodbye to the man he loved for the last time.

He tried to convince himself that it was for the best, that Penguin would live. That he would be safe… But this comforting thought wasn’t able to make him leave. He reached out mentally and surrounded Penguin’s desperate soul with his warmth.

 _Don’t cry for me, at least I will leave this life with honor_.

Penguin had lowered his head, tears rolling down his face and dropping on their joined hands. His dark hair was shielding his face, whereas Killer wished to look at him, just once before he goes. The witcher lifted Penguin’s face up with a hand under his chin. Their eyes locked and they took in every detail of the other, trying to keep this image with them forever.

 _If I die today, I will leave without regrets… except for not being at your side in my last breath_.

Penguin’s thoughts couldn’t form words anymore. He couldn’t name the emotions that was overwhelming him at this instant. The only thing he could hold onto was Killer while behind him the portal was expanding, dragging Penguin away from the witcher with each second that passed. Until Penguin threw away all caution.

If this was their end, then it would be something to remember.

The young sorcerer grabbed the back of his lover’s neck and brought Killer close until he sealed their lips. In a split second the witcher tightened his arms around Penguin’s waist lifted him up. He kissed him back with devotion, not caring for an instant about the army trying to reach them. There was that point in space and time where only them existed, holding each other in despair.

They lost their breath in a passionate embrace, cursing the odds that brought them on each other’s path and wishing they had never fall in love. Just to spare them from the terrible hardship of parting without a chance to see the other again. They teared this kiss away from Fate’s crooked hands.

Because it will be all they had. A kiss. Burning their mouths from its ardor and wet from their tears.

Before the end of everything, the ruins and the fire.

They would share one last kiss.

 

Penguin let go of the last tie of control he had over himself and his emotions brimmed over him. Nothing hold him back from calling all the magic around him as he focused on one single thought: putting Killer into safety.

Struggling to open the portal the Lodge of sorcerers suddenly felt their magic escaping their control, the powerful flows went through them, shaking their core, seeking a way out of their small grip. It was too much for them to handle so they didn’t try to fight it. The sorcerers, grinding their teeth in the effort, received the luminous flows from the circle and helped it reach the source calling to them. Penguin.

In Killer’s arms, the young sorcerer’s body was surrounded by a growing whirlwind of light. On the ground the circle broke in thousand shards, pure lines of magic were carving the ancient stone, and expanded quickly. Not around the Lodge though but around Killer and Penguin, kissing with the energy of despair.

 The sorcerers could only watch the spell of teleportation growing wider and wider. What they took long minutes to achieve was made by Penguin in the blink of an eye. The castle shook on its foundations. The portal kept expanding on the ground, catching up with the witchers who had almost reached the entrance of the castle. Kid and the other stopped at the sight of the bright mark drawing themselves under their feet.

A fantastic wind blew inside the whole castle, in every hall, from the lowest level to the highest tower. The runes started to become brighter. And even at the gates of the castle the knights of the Flaming Rose halted their assault.

The men looked up and witnessed helplessly the light flooding from the castle’s walls, wrapping its threads around the building. A deep howling began to increase, deafening the knights and Donquixote’s soldiers. It was as if thousands of voices were singing all together and the resonance of their choral was making the sorcerers’ castle vibrating on the same note.

It grew higher and higher to an insufferable peak and then–

The light went out, the sound faded into complete silence, so abruptly the enemy army first thought they had lost their senses.

Where a second before an ancient elven castle was standing, a deep and immense hole had been carved, like it had been spooned off the earth. Where once resided the Lodge of the sorcerers was now an empty space blank from every trace of their existence.

The whole castle and its occupants had disappeared, right under the eyes of a dumbfounded army.


End file.
